Feeling Famous and Other News

Tumara over at the popular DecaturMom blog wrote a short article about Cooking for Monkeys! You can check out the article here. Her site is chock-full of interesting places to go, good places to eat, events, and classes all around Decatur. I must admit I feel a bit famous now. : )


I have officially placed yet another order for bento boxes with Shinzi Katoh. I anticipate the order will be here by the end of the week. Drop me an e-mail with any requests at pam@cookingformonkeys.com .


Lastly, I am planning to do a trunk show at Hoopla in September. I will post more details soon.

Curious George bento (or perhaps a mouse)

It was a rough morning. Let's just leave it at that.

left: veggie booty, "jumpy" squirrel cracker, asian pear "ma" bunny, blueberries & raspberries, and mini blueberry cornmeal muffin
right: fruit leather "george" with edamame and bell pepper balloons, 1/2 pb & j sandwich, cheese stick, and more edamame.

Construction Truck bento

top: blueberries,raspberries,asian pear with cherry tomatro, and veggie chips

bottom: construction truck cheese on pb & j with pretzel sticks and snow peas

Wild Things Work Late

As if it it wasn't enough to do 95 lunch boxes in the morning Bunny, Munsing & I decided to do 16 themed birthday boxes the same evening for a Wild Things birthday party the next afternoon. Are we insane? Maybe...


An image from the book was chosen and discussed. A trip to the grocery store was made. At six that evening we sat down with some wine and dinner and finalized the elements of the box. It took about a half an hour to get the first monster just right, but then it was a breeze to put the remaining 15 together. The final boxes turned out great and were a HUGE hit at the party!














party box: cheese quesadilla monster with sea vegetable "hair" , slivered almond horns & claws, and fruit leather stripes, cheese crown, carrot & red pepper trees, asian pear moon, and edamame. (warning: monster claws hidden under trees)

How to Make 95 Lunch Boxes in 4 Hours

I have been crazy busy cooking this week. I volunteered to provide boxed lunches (bento style) for our church VBS Luncheon on Friday. Whew! Everyone knows that I like to keep things simple, (ha ha ha), so I only had four menu options available. Am I insane? Maybe...
Thanks to a handful of amazing friends (MOTH, corn geode, munsing, bunny team, and hog) we were able to pull it off. We were so into the crunch of things that we only took a few photos, but here they are.

Boxes ready to be filled

Kids Hummus Snack Pack (with special edamame frog)

Bears for PB&J Snack Packs

Finished product

Rarr Monster Bento for the Road

This bento was made for Clerk who was taking a road trip with his family. We play a game where I chase him around and yell "Rarrrrr, I'm hungry". He runs and screams and hides. Does he really think I plan to eat him? hmmm.

Top: cheese monster,edamame, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and carrot sticks
Bottom: (not shown, or maybe the monster ate it, I'm really not sure) car bead game prize, babybel cheese, veggie booty, and blueberries.

Bing Bunny with Flop Bento

My sister always finds the best kids toys and books. The Monkey looks forward to her visits with much anticipation, he knows she has the good stuff in her luggage. A few visits ago she brought us a Bing Bunny book. Little did she know that she was to begin a Bing revolution in Decatur! People are now having Bing parties, Bing t-shirts abound, toddlers in Decatur are Bing crazed. (well maybe its not that bad)

We ordered all eight books in the collection, and now the Monkey reads them to us every night! Bing is great, but to be honest I kinda like Flop the best.

top: blueberries, avocado, ground turkey bites, and grape tomato
bottom: havarti cheese sandwich on ciabatta bread, sweet potato fries on side, fruit leather Bing and Flop

Escape from Worm Planet Bento

Okay, so this bento is really all about me. My two favorite things to see at the aquarium are the sea dragons and the sea worms. Both are a little strange, kinda otherwordly. I must say though that the worms are a bit more freaky, not as freaky as the crabs that can grow as big as a car, but freaky enough. It makes me wonder, what would a planet of sea worms look like? Would I want to go there? Probably not.

top: 1/2 banana, mini blueberry cornmeal muffin, and veggie booty
bottom: cheese ufo, alien, and stars on bread, roasted sweet potato with pasta "worms"

Moonlight on the Savannah Bento

top: homemade baked chicken nuggets with ketchup in blue container, peach slices, and mushed avocado

bottom: cucumber sandwich with orange pepper "savannah grass", cheese moon, broccoli, and tortilla elephant silhouette.

Let's Play Ball Together Bento

When I picked the Monkey up from his class on Thursday he asked me if I would make him a Polar Bear for his next lunch. How could I refuse? At first I envisioned a lonely bear on an ice float adrift in the ocean. It occured to me that he needed someone to hang out with. Luckily this seal came by with his red ball.

top: homemade granola bar with dried apricot, raisin, oats, and pumpkin seeds along with cucumber & carrot to dip in lemon hummus
bottom: cheese and fruit leather polar bear on top of whole wheat bread and fruit leather seal surrounded by blueberries

A Whale of a Bento

Really I have no story for this one. Only that when I asked the Monkey if he wanted me to make something in particular for his lunch he said "a whale". I have no idea why.

bottom: whole wheat jam sandwich with cheese whale, waves, and sun also blueberries on side
top: avocado, sweet potato, peach and a few graham crackers

How To Do This